New soap varieties made with hops, grain from brewery

Nov. 12, 2013

Sample of Jackalope soap, which is made from goat's milk and beer.

Written by

Jamie McGee

The Tennessean

James and Eileen Ray, owners of Little Seed Farm. The couple in March 2012 moved from New York, where he was an investment banker and she worked as a fashion designer. / Mark Boughton

The soaps:

Thunder Ann (an American Pale Ale) includes dried hop leaves from the brewery ground into the soap and sprinkled on top and has a lemongrass and basil scent. Bearwalker (a Maple Brown Ale) has spent grains, the wheat and barley used to brew, mixed into the soap, along with a vanilla cinnamon and nutmeg scent. Rompo (a Red Rye Ale) has a rosemary and patchouli scent.

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James Ray was a homebrewer and his wife, Eileen Ray, a fellow beer drinker, so when the young farming couple began brainstorming unique varieties for their fledgling soap business last year, beer was high on the priority list.

A year later, through a partnership with Jackalope Brewing Co., their beer soap dream is taking off. Beginning this month, they will offer three new soap varieties made with hops and grain from the Nashville brewery, along with goat milk from their Lebanon farm, Little Seed Farm.

The soap is made with goat milk (instead of water), olive oil, coconut oil, milk and lye, and the scents are created with organic oils and no artificial fragrances. “We use it to wash our baby,” Eileen said.

The beer brand replaces half of the milk with Jackalope’s original brews, including Thunder Ann, Bearwalker and Rompo, using additional, all-natural scents that highlights elements of each brew’s flavor. For example, Thunder Ann, an American Pale Ale-style beer that has a more a flowery taste will include lemongrass and basil scents, Eileen said.

A handful of other breweries, including New York-based Brooklyn Brewery, have attached their names to soap products. Proponents claim that natural ingredients in the beer help soothe irritated skin and soften skin, thanks to certain amino acids from the hops.

James said he could foresee beer distributors and homebrewing stores adding the product, bringing a new demographic to their typical customer base.

“(We) are really excited about it, because there is nothing out there like it,” James said.

Partnerships like this are becoming more common among Nashville businesses seeking to support one another and collaborate on local products. Local restaurants are increasingly adding local brews to their taps and locally grown foods to their menu, and ice cream shops and sandwich operations are including local beer flavors in their menu as well.

For Jackalope, which opened in May 2011 and is sold in about 110 restaurants, the soap presents a new branding opportunity and a way to participate on a new, different project. The Rays reached out to Bailey Spaulding, Jackalope co-owner and co-founder in August, and she came to visit the farm, learning about the cheese and soap-making processes.

Given that she and Eileen were both from Vermont and that she always shared interest in creating products from scratch, Spaulding said she was eager to collaborate.

“It’s fun to work with other people who are also pursuing a passion of theirs,” Spaulding said. “Their farm is a labor of love as well. … They are really wonderful people, and I really like showing different ways that beer can be a part of people’s lives.”

James and Eileen began working on their farm in March 2012 after moving from New York, where he was an investment banker and she worked as a fashion designer.

With no farming experience, but with a passion for a new lifestyle centered around organic dairy farming, they began a goat cheese and milk operation, based on herd shares, in which customers buy ownerships of the goat herd. Months later, Eileen began using the milk to create soap, a trade she learned with her grandmother.

As demand grew, the couple began marketing their scented soap varieties on social media close to the holidays last year, and built a following of repeat customers at farmers’ markets. Now, they are selling eight varieties in eight states through 16 retailers, including Old Made Good in East Nashville, D.Luxe Home in Marathon Village andPhiladelphia-based Urban Outfitters Inc.

“We weren’t sure our product would be special enough to be of any significance to us on the farm,” Eileen said. “It has taken off in the last couple of months. It’s been an awesome surprise for us.”